A quick update
Posted on August 8th, 2008 – 12:56 PMBy La Velle
Couple things….
Heard that Alexi Casilla had a very encouraging check up as he battles a torn ligament in his right thumb. We’ll get more details when we get into Gardy’s office, but it sounds like the Twins can expect him back at some point.
Craig Monroe has cleared waivers and has been released by the Twins. He’s free to sign with any club.
That’s all for now. Can’t wait to see how many Twins fans show up tonight in K.C.
Happy birthday, Julie and Kim!!!
118 Responses to "A quick update"
Atta boy Casilla, very encouraging news! Though I can’t say the offense has slipped much without his bat, strangely enough.
it’s because the guy that should’ve been the center fielder opening day is in right field and tearing the cover off the ball while doing an excellent job of leading off.
while Gomez was pretending to be a leadoff hitter, even though he was an automatic out, Casilla was essentially the leadoff guy in the #2 spot.
Now that the leadoff guy can actually hit, and get on base, the Twins are doing just fine.
Still need a real third baseman though. Quite disappointing that they didn’t trade for one.
that is awesome. Love the potential line up from top to the bottom when he can slot into the 2 spot
Span
Casilla
Mauer
Morneau
Cuddyer
Kubel
Young
Buscher/Harris
Punto
That would be great, to get Lexi back for a stretch drive and (hopefully) playoffs.
I won’t be in KC tonight but hitting the road early Sat morning to make it there for the Saturday and Sunday games. Keep the rain away, LEN3!
[…] leaving the baseball talk to LaVelle and Joe for now. I can’t top his encouraging note about Alexi Casilla’s thumb. It would […]
My sense is that Span has more pop than Casilla and they should switch leadoff to Casilla and Span#2
Span loves the leadoff spot, Casilla loves hitting #2, it’s not gonna change.
Here is an interesting stat about this unsubstantiated Span vs. Gomez leading off talk:
With Gomez as the leadoff batter, the Twins are 52-38 (.577). With Span as the leadoff batter, the Twins are 8-9 (.471)
The twins were 7-10 (.411) through the first 17 games Gogomez was batting leadoff, compared to 8-9 (.471) for the first 17 games Span has been batting leadoff…
hmmmm…you can make the stat’s say whatever you want 
fcmlefty
I wouldn’t be so eager to throw Cuddyer into the #5 hole. He was brutal at the beginning of the season and is going to take awhile to come back into form. I’d bat him 7th until he proves he can hit.
thrylos, one is not related to the other. I would like to see the bullpen era split into the same periods of time. That would be the difference, methinks.
Gardy will bat Cuddy 5th however
most of the people b*tching about Gomez now….. 2 weeks too late(he’s been better at #9) were probably bonered up when he hit his cycle.
thrylos98,
do you know how many runs span has scored vs. Gogomez in same number of games while leading off? that might be a better gauge? thanks.
It doesn’t matter who leads off, or how many runs the leadoff guy scores, if the bullpen is going to shit the bed nightly, is what i’m suggesting.
Who else are you going to put in the 5 hole? Young? Please. Need Cuddys RH bat to break up all the lefties
Young is right handed, and has far outperformed cuddyer (even when healthy) this year.
and last year.
Someone mentioned the other day, not sure if it were on LEN, JC, or Howard’s blog but since Cuddy has such a great arm just temporarily use him out of the pen if necessary. I know, I know, it would be a tough transiton but hey, the bullpen is desperate need and the outfield is crowded.
“Young is right handed, and has far outperformed cuddyer (even when healthy) this year.”
“and last year”
And next year!
And FOREVER!!!
do you know how many runs span has scored vs. Gogomez in same number of games while leading off?
Both players could get on base 100 times and one could be only driven in 50 comparred to the other’s 90.
That wouldn’t make one player better over the other…just would speak about those hitting around him.
I’d rather look at the stats more closely tied to Span/Gomez’s individual performance.
Monroe was a STUPID signing. No spare outfielder with failing record is worth $4 million. He and J. Jones will be eligible for the Hall in five years as their careers are both over.
Kubel belongs in the
kubel belongs in the 5 hole and cuddyer should be batting 6th or 7th depending on Youngs current slump or hitting streak, but generally I would like to see Kubel behind Morneau and Cuddyer behind Young…
You might want to take into account that Cuddyer was not healthy most of the year when deciding where you are going to bat him, Gardy Jr. He had a .405 SA in April and .481 in June.
other wise, I agree lefty.. Span, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Young, Cuddy, Harris/Buscher, and than Gomez could be a potent line-up, but our bullpen needs to rest a couple games….lets get some 8 inning games from our staters here in KC land, go twins
just happy to hear ole boy Casilla might be coming back, hope he is as effective as he was before his DL stint, something tells me he will be fighting through some pain
Shaun, you’ve got 5 outfielders in your lineup. And no shortstop.
Too all that think Buscher should even be in the line up, NO WAY!!! Please find me a real 3rd baseman or leave Harris at 3rd and go after some bull pen help, because if you want Buscher to bat, you will leave a lot of men on base.
lol!! holy!! guess you’re right, guess I forgot Mike Lamb or Mike E. Alright, scratch cuddy all together than, he really hasn’t shown me that he is an offensive threat…good catch Kidding Me..
Adam Everett…or Mike Lamb
Buscher should get the occasional righty pitcher 3B start, but mainly as a backup DH, 1B, PH
The bullpen is not that tired; they are just not that good.
The Twins have , thru all at bats by six guys who have played at third base,
26 doubles/3 triples/5HR/68RBI/27BB/49K
from that position.
Tolbert/Punto/Lamb/Harris/Macri/Buscher have played third.
Harris has 10 doubles in 39 at bats when playing third. Buscher needs to oomph it up. he has 5 doubles/3HRs in 122 at bats at third.
Doesnt Cuddyer play third base?
Shaun, no lamb, and no everett. it has to be punto for 2 reasons. 1) he’s producing reasonably well this year, and 2) He has obscene photos of gardy doing something unpleasant with eurasian water milfoil at his local hardware store.
You’ve,
“He has obscene photos of gardy doing something unpleasant with eurasian water milfoil ”
Can I take your word for it, that its “unpleasant”?
I agree with Gardy- the hyper-analysis of the leadoff guy is completely out of control. Span is a great fit in the leadoff and after the first inning, having Go-Go and Span back-to-back is wonderful.
I can’t imagine what this message board would be like if we spent all the $ that Seattle, Detroit or the Dodgers do to have mediocre teams…
do we have a consensus as to who is the most hated this week?
bass
young
gomez
lamb
everett
livan, oops sorry
bill smith
gardy
punto
cuddy
the entire bullpen
anyone else?
I don’t care what the numbers say, general baseball sense says DY does not have the skills right now to hit in the middle of a line up. He has no plate disipline, and hits for less power than an average middle infielder.
gobbledygookguy
the most hated is Brett Favre. ESPN didnt show anything other than him for days.
Brian Giles denied a trade to Boston from San Diego. He said NO!!!!
sane,
You don’t even want me to hint at what’s going on in those pictures, beyond what i’ve already said. But, yes, it’s unpleasant.
gobbledygookguy - You forgot Ruiz
“Someone mentioned the other day, not sure if it were on LEN, JC, or Howard’s blog but since Cuddy has such a great arm just temporarily use him out of the pen if necessary. I know, I know, it would be a tough transiton but hey, the bullpen is desperate need and the outfield is crowded.”
I’m speechless.
boston-134m payroll 66-49
yankees-209m payroll 63-52
twins-57m payroll 63-51
money can’t buy you love, can it?
Gobble, every day it could be any of these guys. I’d say it’s about equal. Even if Twins won the world series and Punto, or any other batter listed, got a walk off HR in the 9th inning of game 7 the rubes will still find things to complain about with him.
Huston Street is out there on waivers….come on twins!!! lol
gobbledygookguy
My vote goes to the bullpen, closely followed by rosie o’donnell.
Nico, your hindsight on Span batting leadoff is amazing from the start of the season is amazing. Any other revelations?
Maybe you can tell us when Liriano should have been called up, when Livan and Monroe should have been dropped.
I look forward to hearing more of your hindsight predictions.
eaa…my tongue was firmly planted in cheek. No need to think what you are speechless about.
I still wish the Vikings/Twins together could have made a play for Favre
he could play 3rd or be a reliver with his rocket arm, then he could piss off cheeseheads by playing for the Vikes
Whew … good to know. I’ve just seen so many of these do this and do that with Cuddy things that you never know what is coming next.
“I’d rather look at the stats more closely tied to Span/Gomez’s individual performance.”
If you consider that behind Gogo and Span it has pretty much Casilla,Mauer,Mourneau … yeah you really can analyze by how many runs they’ve scored in the same number of games. you could i guess argue that Casilla wasnt around enough for gogomez’s games, but i havent looked at what the breakdown.
my main point is that Span’s OBP is much higher, but i’m not sure if it’s exactly translated to more runs scored/game. i’ll have to do the numbers after i get home from work. or maybe i’ll go grab a beer ….. hmmm….
Favre threw to the guys in the other uniform to many times in football, he would do the same on a pitcher’s mound. To many hit batsmen. To many umpires warning both dugouts. To many hats punted by Gardy.
Too many
If the Twins won’t make the playoffs then I will also root for Torii to get his ring this year.
You’ve got to be kidding me! I miss free bat night
Plunkton
I thought the term “rubes” had been reserved for those of us who constantly apologize for the Twins’ success and on behalf of the Twins’ FO, Gardy, Vavra, et al.
I will be confused if we start calling the bashers and incessant berating of certain members of the team (regardless of whether it has been earned of late), to be “rubes”. I was kind of getting used to wearing that as a badge of honor.
Carlos…Well I guess we all have our own definition of ‘rube’ but here are some from Google…
an awkward, unsophisticated person from a rural area; rustic.
yokel: a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture
A person of rural heritage; a yokel; An unsophisticated or unintelligent person
Huh. I am a rube now Carlos G
Isn’t Rich Garces available? Or Joe Roa? maybe then we could save on having to use Cuddy outta the pen
Some folk’ll never eat a skunk but then again some folk’ll,…like Cletus the slack jawed yokel.
lol, how Bout the Met’s vs Angels…. Torii VS Johan???? That would be a good headline… I’d like to see the Rays win it all this year if the Twins don’t get that chance.
Nathan was named DHL’s top reliever of July, not too shabby
Yea… Twins versus Dodgers is my wishful thinking. Rays would be 2nd choice.
Torii will go hitless against Johan, I am predicting.
1965.. that would be a classic… Our success vs joe torre isn’t very good, but that is a long over due rematch
LaValle is giving shout-outs to his gals back in the Cities. Skol LaVelle
Russ: (an hour ago)
I concur. Why not Cuddy at 3rd? His defense cannot be any worse then the current options?
hunter vs johan, hunter is 2-3.. 2 rbis, 1 run, 1 BB, both hits were doubles… Torii has Johan’s number
Shaun,
Yea, and it probably wasn’t a very good prediction based on Torii’s fairly hot streak lately. I think he was on a 15 or so game hitting streak until the O’s stopped it a couple nights ago, including half a dozen HRs.
Oh, i wasn’t saying your prediction ws wrong, Torii isn’t Mr. October or anything. I just was curious to find that Johan has matched up against Torii in interleague and played well against Johan…
Cuddy’s fielding at third would be significantly worse than either lamb or harris. It would be a wash with buscher, as buscher’s range and glove are better, but his arm is like a bottle rocket with the tail broken off, who knows where his throws are going.
Twins vs Mets Liriano throws a complete game shutout against Johan in game 7 Twins win 1-0 on a solo shot from LNP.
Torii is going to get his WS ring this year and more $$$.
I wonder how many games ahead we would be if Neshek wasn’t hurt? I wonder if Cuddy’s gonna make it for the Royal’s
series(eh, eh, Royal’s what a snobby sounding name)! The Casilla thing is good news!
Still, let me lament…
An Irish Family vacation is still another bar, so, there’s nothing new here! Guess I’ll go see my family down at O’learys Pub!
BC Twins Mets Liriano vs Johan. That would be great also
You’ve got to be kidding me! says:
August 8th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Cuddy’s fielding at third would be significantly worse than either lamb or harris.
Lamb? Everytime he moves it looks like it is taking some real effort. Good point with Harris. I dig the kid’s swagger.
with luke hughes and machado hitting well at AAA they should be able to help the twins down the stretch at 3rd and 2nd and casilla could play ss. The only reliever in the minors that stands out for the twins is slama and he is in A ball so I don’t think they will bring him up for september callups.
Lamb’s not the most agile cat in the world, but i imagine he’s got the edge on cuddyer, if only because cuddy’s been in the outfield for a few years. Cuddyer also needs to prove that his mysterious hand ailment will allow him to swing a bat with some authority before he enter’s the argument to take anybody’s starting job. I see he had a nice game in Rochester last night, let’s hope that he keeps it up.
in 167 games at 3rd base Cuddy has 22 errors… he only has 39 total errors for all positions played… I wouldn’t like Cuddyer at 3rd base because Cuddy is an awesome outfielder… Once Casilla comes back we can place Harris at 3rd and Punto at SS and Casilla at 2nd and Cuddy can spot start in RF/DH.
I know it’s a long stretch, but that gutierez kid they drafted in the first round, i thought i read somewhere that he had a nasty, major league ready sinker, and a fastball in the mid 90’s. Isn’t that all you need to be an effective major league reliever? (I know i butchered the spelling, and i know the twins want him to be a starter, but i’m pretty much just thinking out loud, so to speak.)
jimmy i got to see the franchise pitch on Sunday and he brings almost the same excitement as Johan did and i’m really pumped to watch his next start tommorow.
meatwagon,
I agree re: Harris. I like him a lot. If he just had more quickness laterally, we could have him at ss. Been a long road back from his .232 BA in mid-June, which I think was about the time he stopped playing 2b or about when he was moving to SS.
The last 28 days he is
BA OBP SLG OPS
.328 .384 .547 .930
His splits by position:
2b: .244 .305 .375 .680
3b: .317 .391 .488 .879
ss: .285 .337 .421 .758
So, I agree that he could definitely play 3b on this team.
Cuddy at third base is a huge mistake. For one thing, everyone down the first base line would have to bring a glove to protect themselves. Because, if I remember right, it wasnt so much his fielding( I cant imagine he has much range) but the lack of control throwing to first. And with that cannon I wouldnt want to endanger the fans and our MVP.
Does anyone know if Cuddy ever pitched. He has a cannon for an arm so he might of
If Reggie was Mr. October, and ARod is Mr. April, then Torii is Mr. July. I don’t begrudge Torii for taking the years and the money, but he won’t come up big in the playoffs and I sure won’t be rooting for him to do so. Nor will I be rooting for Johan if it comes to that. I’m a hometown hero, and if you ain’t playing for the hometown, I’m rooting against you!
Didn’t Cuddy pitch an inning of relief once during a blowout? And I believe it was not pretty….
Cuddy and Conseco can both pitch and juggle balls of there heads.
Macleod….. His stats don’t reflect any innings pitched, that doesn’t mean he didn’t pitch, just means he may not have recorded an out… I remember Dann Gladden coming in to pitch a game in the 80’s….. Cuddyer is a magician, maybe he can “magically” get a breaking pitch over the plate…
Maybe it was just a nightmare I had, or perhaps I was thinking the recent relief pitching looked like an outfielder took the mound.
Just a note for all the posters here. I hate it when you all go home from work and I sit here on the west coast, 2 hours earlier, and posting comments to myself. Anyone? Hello? Please come back….
there was a game during interleague where if the Twins hadn’t lost/won in the bottom of the extra inning game an outfielder would have had to come in to pitch the next half inning… I am not sure why it would have worked out that way, but Danny and John G. were discussing that this would have happened had the game not ended when it ended… Strange
Macleod i only post at work not that i have a life or anything.
I only post at work also. But it’s only 2:20 here. If I post at work then it feels like I’m getting paid to discuss the Twins. Oh wait, that means I am getting paid to discuss the Twins. Sweet!
Macleod I moved to the Minnesota area and will be going back west hopefully within a year. Then I will be able to post till 4:30 PST 6:30 CST
Im pretty interested to see what the K looks like with all the renovations they have been doing. In my opinion it was already one of the best parks in baseball.
They are in need of rugs out west. The popularity of a shaved head will eventually lose its cool and everyone will want me to make them a dead squirel just like LaPanta’s
Jimmy…did you see Lapanta’s on Wed? I swore I saw feet moving on top of his head.
Shaun,
I’d hate to pull Span out with the bat he is swinging right now. I’d guess, if I had my druthers, I’d DH Cuddy as well.
I think I like the Harris thing at third, Carlos G. Besides, anyone playing with pants above the knees gets an automatic start.
I know there is a secret compartment where he likes to bury his nutz
I’m outta here and off to the races
I don’t really think we “need” Cuddyer to make the playoffs, but he would be a guy to call on to rest Span, Gomez, Kubel,…I just don’t think Cuddyer is a 3rd baseman, he has played well over a season in total games played at that position and he has too many errors at 3rd
The reason we havent slipped is because everyone is stepping up;Punto,Harris.Buscher,Young,Kubel and the Big 2.This whole season is a season of stepping it up.AC,hope you get back soon.But,where is Cuddy.He is not stepping it up and probably will be gone with a prospect for a 3rd baseman this off-season.
I see the Rays aquired a relief pitcher for the stretch drive. They must want to win! I thought small market teams were only supposed to act like they are working on improving.
Nice Job LaVelle!! “Casilla will be back at some point!” Stop the presses! I clicked on the article hoping to get some information, but I found out he had a nice checkup and he will return to the lineup at some point. Wow. And here I thought he was terminal and never returning to the lineup. Where does the Star Trib find these guys? Do they have editors there anymore?
Nico is a genius says:
August 8th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Nico, your hindsight on Span batting leadoff is amazing from the start of the season is amazing. Any other revelations?
Maybe you can tell us when Liriano should have been called up, when Livan and Monroe should have been dropped.
I look forward to hearing more of your hindsight predictions.
considering I said it before spring training even started, no hindsight involved, just tremendous foresight.
thanks for caring though!!
benitofinito says:
August 8th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Isn’t Rich Garces available? Or Joe Roa? maybe then we could save on having to use Cuddy outta the pen
Pat Mahomes is pitching in independent ball…he’s available
Shaun says:
August 8th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
lol, how Bout the Met’s vs Angels…. Torii VS Johan???? That would be a good headline… I’d like to see the Rays win it all this year if the Twins don’t get that chance.
I’m hoping for whoever makes it from the AL Central v the Fish
You’ve got to be kidding me! says:
August 8th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I know it’s a long stretch, but that gutierez kid they drafted in the first round, i thought i read somewhere that he had a nasty, major league ready sinker, and a fastball in the mid 90’s. Isn’t that all you need to be an effective major league reliever? (I know i butchered the spelling, and i know the twins want him to be a starter, but i’m pretty much just thinking out loud, so to speak.)
any other organization in baseball and Gutierrez would be up in September. However, the Twins are terrible at fast tracking college kids so there is little chance he does get called up.
jimmy bee says:
August 8th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Does anyone know if Cuddy ever pitched. He has a cannon for an arm so he might of
he was drafted as a shortstop. he’s moved all around, but he hasn’t pitched.
Shaun-Granted,Cuddy had 23 errors in limited time at third.At the same time he was pressing just to make the team and realize his potential as a #i pick.When he had some success in right he relaxed and even did a decent job at 2b.When he was on balance and not guessing and lunging at pitches,he had a good year 2 yrs ago.IMO,we should have our 3b of the future in place bt the start of 09!
billflood says:
August 8th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Im pretty interested to see what the K looks like with all the renovations they have been doing. In my opinion it was already one of the best parks in baseball.
here you go, a video on what they are doing:
would be great to get casilla back soon and maybe even tolbert sometime before the year us out, now if punto would just die i might be able to watch a game again
P
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mrshowtime,
that’s a disgusting way to put it. i’m sure his family appreciates you wishing him to die. even in fun, it shows no discretion or taste. please apologize.
Pcasey,
You must not understand the meaning of words. More details were coming. We didn’t know what the timetable was. The big thing is that Casilla won’t miss the rest of the season.
Anyway, I just posted another update…
I realize Nick Punto is far from the ideal player…but why are some so eager to have Tolbert replace him? What has he done that is so amazing? Casilla, I can understand…but Tolbert??
Punto- 160 ABs– 21 RBIs, .275 avg., .333 on-base, .740 OPS
Tolbert- roughly half the ab-bats, 3 RBIs, .265 avg., .307 on-base, .644 OPS
Plus, Punto has proven that he can play above-average defense at 3B, SS and 2B in the major leagues…Maybe Tolbert will turn out to be a solid player–but he hasn’t done anything yet to prove he is better than Punto…
Wow, I can’t believe I’ve been goaded into defending Punto…you’ve done the seemingly impossible…
